When to use a recruitment company and when to go it alone?
Life
is hard for businesses looking to recruit new staff at present. There is a worldwide skills shortage and
online job advertisements are at a record high. In response, the recruitment business is booming as employers
look for external assistance to ease their plight.
The
question is, when should you use a recruitment agency and when should you go it
alone? Recruitment agency fees are
expensive and you want to be sure you are getting value for your money.
The
first thing it is important to understand is that most recruitment firms are
really just job advertisers and do not undertake employee selection for you as
well. There are some agencies that do
and if you require this from them this should be an important part of your
selection criteria when deciding which firm to use.
Given
that most recruitment firms don\'t provide selection services, if you are able
to write an effective job advertisement or have other arenas through which you
can source potential job applicants yourself, such as through word of mouth
from your current employees or through other contacts; or via signs in your
place of employment or local area, then you will save considerable amounts of
money by undertaking all of your employee recruitment and selection process
yourself.
A
recruitment firm can offer you great benefits if you are looking to hire staff
for short periods of time and also wish to use the recruitment company\'s
services as an outsourced employer. The
recruitment firm will charge you an hourly or daily rate for the contractor and
also act as the worker\'s employer and will be responsible for insurances,
salary, superannuation and all employee benefits. Although this is generally more expensive than if you act as the
employer yourself, there is just a single invoice to be paid rather than the
workload associated with an additional employee. Also the recruitment firm takes all the risk and you can ask for
replacement staff at any time if the employee is not working out like you hoped
or if you no longer require their services.
This can be particularly useful if you require particular skills for
only a short period of time, for example you need an accountant to help you out
at tax time or a receptionist to fill in whilst your regular employee is on
leave. Using a contractor through a
recruitment firm can also often be cheaper than using a professional services
firm.
A
recruitment firm can also provide you with benefits if they are expert in a
particular industry or employee market.
They may have specialized knowledge of where to find and how to attract
employees of particular skills types.
If you are unable to attract the employees you want yourself, you may
require the services of a recruitment agency that has good industry contacts
and can headhunt the appropriate staff you require.
Whilst
most recruiters are sales professionals (not employee selection specialists), some agencies hire staff with extensive
experience in a field (e.g. electrical engineering) and teach them how to
recruit and place. Recruitment consultants who
themselves have the particular skills and experience you require, are generally
better able to understand and assess what it is that you are looking for. This means that the quality of the short
listed candidates that are provided to you to assess will be higher.
Many
employment markets are so large that for a business to initially screen all
applications for a position would be so time consuming that it could result in
lost business whilst this process occurs.
This is particularly the case in large cities such as New York and
London, however this problem also occurs in cities within the EU where
applicants readily apply for and move to new jobs right throughout the
region. The use of recruitment firms in
this instance can save considerable time and stress provided that correct
selection and screening procedures are utilized.
Similarly,
if you do not have the time to undertake the recruitment and selection process
yourself and the cost to your business in lost business or business development
opportunity during the recruitment process is more than the cost of utilizing a
recruitment firm, you should definitely consider outsourcing your recruitment. If you choose to go this route however you
should insist that your chosen firm undertakes the whole process for you and
uses scientific selection methodology.
At
the very least your recruiter should undertake background and reference checks
on your behalf and use behavioral based interviews. Otherwise you will end up having to put in just as much time and
effort yourself anyway to assess the applicants they send you. If not, the effect of your outsourced employee
selection process will be just as effective as taking a lucky dip from a
hat. And you will have to deal with the
consequences, which could not only include you being stuck with a less than
productive employee, but even a disaster.
I can assure you that the time and effort required to performance manage
a poorly performing employee or one with a bad attitude is much, much more than
would be required to undertake a successful selection process in the first
instance.
In summary, recruitment firms can provide you with many valuable services, particularly in such a tight employment market as it is at present. It is important however to assess potential recruiters carefully and ensure that they provide you with the services you require. The free industry guide \"recruitment agency secrets\" provides more information on how to assess potential recruitment firms well as inside information to assist you in getting value for money when you do decide to use them.